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#004:
October 2007
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#004, October 2007:
Expedition:
Paddling Through a Sea of
Ice, Jean-Luc Grossmann
Trip Report: An Aegean Odyssey, Nick Cunliffe
Interview: Gordon Brown
Trip Report: A Little Piece of Iona and the Ross of Mull,
Dr. Douglas Wilcox
Expedition: Arctic Voice I, Glenn Morris
Incident
Management IV: Medical Incidents, Calls for Assistance &
Deep Water Survival, Jeff Allen
Review: Rockpool Alaw & Alaw Bach
Stern Words:
Stranger Things Happen at Sea
and, much, much
more..
- All the
latest news from manufacturers and expeditions;
- Reviews of
Lendal’s Kinetic touring
paddle with Ion blades, Icom’s IC-M33 ‘Buoyant’ VHF Radio,
the Primus EtaPower EF integrated stove and pan and the
Kari-Tek Easy Load;
- Win a
five-day training course with Gordon Brown!
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Includes:
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Paddling Through a Sea of
Ice: Jean-Luc Grossmann
Paddling through a sea of ice -
45 days paddling off the Greenland’s north-west coast, in the
endless summer days of the midnight sun. This is the adventure
lived by four good friends who were to be overwhelmed by the
light illuminating the icebergs and the blow of the whales…
more.. |
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An Aegean
Odyssey: Nick Cunliffe
The still-distant cliffs of Amorgos rose and fell behind dark
grey swells as a 20-knot NE wind blew hard across our course.
Fifty kilometres downwind lay the volcanic island of Santorini;
upwind, nothing save a few scatt ered Greek islets until the
Turkish mainland. With forty kilometres under our kayaks already
today, mostly upwind, we were tired. The sun fell in the sky
behind us; perhaps another couple of hours before we lost the
light.
Departing the sheltering mid-crossing islets of Antikaros, we
paddled into the waves, blades snatching in the wind as our bows
crashed from crest to trough. Pete began to diverge from the
group, taking a more comfortable line through the heaving sea
that obscured our target. In less than a minute Pete was fifty
metres away.
“Nick! Where the hell’s Pete off to?” yelled Rod over the wind.
“You’ve been keeping an eye on him this week. Go get him back!”
I paddled to join Pete and looked back for the others. Already
they were hidden among the swells. As I cajoled Pete to take a
more downwind course, I considered
the challenge of the crossing ahead. Eight days into our planned
transit of the Aegean Sea, a combination of commitment and
fatigue was creating an uncertain situation. With no land to
leeward, we could ill afford any deterioration in the
conditions. I longed for the next two hours to pass
uneventfully, for the chance to regroup on Amorgos.
more..
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Interview: Gordon
Brown
Gordon Brown, author of the hugely successful ‘Sea Kayak’, takes
time out to answer questions on his background, the success of
the book and his home The Isle Skye. At the same time, Gordon
offers his thoughts on coaching, sea kayaking in general and the
future of the sport.
more..
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A Little Piece of
Iona and the Ross of Mull: Dr. Douglas Wilcox
As I write it is late autumn and
the cold north wind is driving the incessant rain against the
windows of the house in vicious squalls. Inside it is warm and
dry and I am reading a book about the Holy Isle of Iona, which
lies off the Ross of Mull in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. I
am rolling a smooth green pebble between my fingers and suddenly
I am transported back to our summer sea kayaking adventure…
more..
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Arctic Voice I:
Glenn Morris
The man looked up; he was wearing
no top, the room was hot and the smell of smoke, urine, sweat
and animal blood hung heavily in the air, trapped within the
earth walls. It was dark – the only light came through a small
opening covered with a thin skin of walrus intestine. His child
crawled naked across the caribou skins that covered the platform
on the other side of the room, his thick black hair shining in
the light of the stone oil lamp, mucus dripped from one nostril.
A woman used a curved blade to
cut up the last of the meat and let it fall into an old aluminum
pot before placing it on the stove.
The man’s eyes dropped to the harpoon head; he
filed the steel tip and ran his fingers over the carved ivory. A
long pink scar on his wrist reminded him of his second polar
bear hunt – the bear’s claws had torn his flesh. Years later he
still remembered the pain. But he had killed the bear; driven
his spear into its huge body; he had said hello again and ‘kuana’.
The man pulled on some old woolen pullovers, bear skin trousers,
kamiks and his tuilik. Without a word he
moved through a small passage and into the air.
The sun reflected on the snow
and for a while made him squint. The kayak lay on a large wooden
framework next to the igloo, high enough so the dogs would not
chew through the sealskin that covered the wooden frame. He
lifted it down – the tethered animals, excited by the movement,
began a chorus of howling; like him, they were hungry.
It was spring. The ice had
broken up, but the snow still squeaked underfoot – it was cold.
He tightened the thong on the hood and his features changed; he
became ugly. The water was oily calm. The shaman had become a
bear last night and had flown to meet the mother of the sea. The
shaman told him the hunting would be good today.
He was one with the kayak. He
felt the sea close to him as the wooden bladesent him like a
knife through the black water. The seal disturbed the surface as
it rose to breathe. The hunter picked up the harpoon and looked
carefully at the coils of the sealskin thong; it must not catch
on anything or he would be pulled in and, being entirely alone,
would drown in the icy waters. The throwing stick sent the shaft
through the air. The seal immediately dived and the water was no
longer calm. Blood stained the water. The thong hissed and the
skin bladder was yanked from the rear deck. The harpoon shaft
floated nearby.
The hunter said, ‘hello again,
kuana.’
more..
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Incident
Management IV: Medical Incidents, Calls for Assistance & Deep
Water Survival, Jeff Allen
In Incident management 4 we will
look at dealing with medical incidents, calls for assistance and
deep-water survival techniques. I believe you can never learn
enough about first aid techniques and treatments are constantly
being researched, revised and up-dated - so making sure you are
aware of current practice is important. I remember the original
first aid course I attended taught me how to apply a tourniquet
and as you probably know this is no longer considered safe
practice. Calls for assistance go hand in hand when dealing with
medical emergencies, just as when on land, we call for help,
this also applies at sea and knowing how to operate and make the
appropriate calls on a VHF (Complete a recognised VHF course and
obtain a license to operate) as well as having other means of
attracting attention at sea, is vital. With kayakers taking on
more and more extreme challenges I have also included some of my
thoughts on deep-water survival for Ocean paddlers.
more.. |
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Review: Rockpool
Alaw & Alaw Bach
Rockpool let us
play with their Alaw and Alaw Bach sea kayaks on an extended
long-term test.
We put them
through their paces and let you know what we think.
more.. |
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And Finally.. |
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Stern Words:
Stranger Things Happen at Sea
‘Small boats are only good for
two things,’ wrote Forsyth Hamilton in Kipper House Tales, ‘a
wet arse and a good appetite.’ as though nothing of interest Or
adventure was ever discovered in a vessel smaller than a yacht.
Quite the Reverse is of course true, as readers of Ocean Paddler
(or indeed Swallows And Amazons) will be fully aware. And it’s
not just the kayak’s unrivalled ability To poke intimately into
the hidden corners of a coastline; to access remote Communities;
to cruise quietly along fascinating shores. It’s much more than
That. In fact I often feel that there is something about the
wandering kayak which Regularly reveals, attracts, perhaps even
causes, some of the most colourful, Fantastic and downright
bizarre of life’s adventures...
more..
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P.S.
Images are taken from final, final, final draft proofs - yet more
changes may have occurred by the time it finally goes to the
printers. If so, it's only us trying to ensure that you receive the
best quality magazine that we can physically produce!
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